Studies & Storyboard

I recently had to rethink the opening introduction to the characters. After running my original idea past someone, it became clear that Luthor's impatience was not being communicated clearly.

I decided to add signs of waiting: a tapping foot; a tapping finger; a glance at a watch.

Here are the initial drawings I did today:




Creativity & Thinking Like a Child

Picasso: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after he grows up."


Researchers at North Dakota State University executed a study about adult creativity. They discovered that the more an adult acts and thinks like a child, the more imaginative he or she becomes. Read the details here.


This made me think about all of the creative outlets we had in elementary school (I still have the ash tray I sculpted for my father in the 3rd grade! It used to be decorated with pasta elbows but those fell off years ago.) and how that decreased as we got older. It's a shame our culture doesn't value art and music education more, clearly it's necessary for our functioning as adults.


Let's all stay in touch with our inner child!

Man vs. Art Podcast—Drawing Fundamentals

This podcast from Raul Aguirre, Jr. explains the importance of building a strong foundation of drawing skills and knowledge. He describes what he calls "The Five P's"—perspective, proportion, pattern, placement and planes.

If it's all right with Señor Aguirre, I'd like to add a sixth "P": Patience.

Because I know a lot about impatience and how much time it can waste!

This past summer I was thrilled to discover John K's curriculum. It involved a lot of precise copying from the original Preston Blair "Advanced Animation" book (part one is available here, part two here. I bought a later version of this book when I was a kid. Mine, however, contains significantly different—and lower quality—drawings since the original's characters were owned by MGM, not by Blair himself.)

I was very disciplined about getting through that curriculum. But that's all I did, get through it, as quickly as possible. What I didn't do is truly learn the lessons since I was in such a RUSH!

Now I'm taking the time--AGAIN--to deeply ingrain every lesson and to practice those lessons EVERY DAY. If I had done this back in the summer, I'd be seeing significant results TODAY!

I have yet to hear a single successful artist say that drawing is an inborn talent. What they ALL do agree on is the importance of consistent study and practice. You can't help but get better with consistent study and practice.

Back to work!

Storyboard Pro 2 Tutorial #2—The Pan

Hopefully you found the first Sherm Cohen tutorial helpful. He's an experienced storyboard artist who seems enthusiastic about using Storyboard Pro. I think that's a strong endorsement for this software.

And now that I've upgraded my MacBook from 2GB to 6GB of RAM, things are flying! Particularly, I can now scrub through the animatic and see how things flow without having to take the time to export to a Quicktime movie. I still like to do the export to see how things move at the proper frame rate, but it's helpful to have the option to take a quick look. Before the upgrade, I would get the pinwheel of death every time I tried to scrub. No more of that!

Cohen's tutorial for pans is here. Below is the current opening pan in my animatic.

Raul Aguirre, Jr. On Angst-y Characters

I won't even bother to summarize the opinions of creator of Raul Aguirre, Jr., the man in the Man vs. Art podcasts, since listening to this particular rant is so entertaining! While riding the bus home recently and listening to him vent, I'm sure people who saw my silly grin thought I was some kind of weirdo.

Basically, he's complaining about all of the darkness in characters and illustration, especially with live action comic book-based heroes. I found myself endlessly nodding in agreement. I don't like when comic book-based live action movies are campy and don't take themselves seriously at all (Fantastic Four I & II and Batman and Robin) but I also don't like when they're so dark that I want to turn on a light so I can actually see what's happening (The Dark Knight.) I guess it's hard to strike the right tone between camp and serious but Iron Man I got it right.

Aguirre also goes on a tirade about Tim Burton's work, which he dismisses as an "aesthetic." I agree with him completely. I can only take Burton's work in small doses. I'm fascinated that a human being has such a seemingly limited world view: that being that everything happens at night (his remake of Planet of the Apes. I kept wondering if this was a planet that didn't orbit the sun it was so damn DARK!) and every situation is sinister (I skipped Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland and Willy Wonka because I didn't want to see drab, dreary, dour versions of my childhood favorites.) I mean, this guy knows ONE THING: DARK! Even his early drawings and animations were dark. It's a viewpoint that simply doesn't apply to the real world.

So that's what I have to say about this podcast. Take a listen for yourself and enjoy!

Comic Con NYC 2010


Thanks to my wonderful (non-comic geek) girlfriend for graciously dealing with the throng of comics, animation, science fiction and gaming geeks this past weekend at the NYC Comic Con. I'm disappointed she didn't dress up like Princess Leia but, whatever, you can't have everything! :)

My comments about the con are my personal impressions based on my reasons for attending. In other words, I didn't go to see the latest from any particular studio or company. Instead, I went to see how other amateurs present their work. And I did learn a lot about what materials to have and how to present oneself.

First, the place was PACKED! I had a weekend pass but only attended on Saturday, the day it was sold out. I haven't been in a few years but I don't remember it being that crazy. Second, the layout was superior to previous years. There was a lot more space in the rows and especially near the entrances. Third, the artists alley felt less like an alley! The last time I attended, they stuck the artists up on the mezzanine in ridiculously narrow aisles. Two people couldn't walk side-by-side, it was insane! This time the artists had as much space as the professionals which made it easier to see their work and to talk to them. Fourth, I had an informative conversation regarding submissions with Kasey (sp?), programmer for Animation Block Party. He told me that submission acceptance begins in December and continues through May. And he gave me a helpful piece of advice: do NOT submit an incomplete or rushed film. It will do more harm than good. I had actually heard that once before, from a filmmaker who submitted a work in progress to Sundance, and he said never again. Words for all filmmakers to live by. He also explained the importance of keeping a short film short; it makes it easier to include more films in a program when they're less than 10 minutes and prevents a single film from dominating. Thanks for talking to me, Kasey!



So those are the aspects that I liked. Here's what I didn't like: First, I had expected to get a bag of goodies at the door, or at least a lanyard for the big, thick tag that acted as a ticket. But they ran out of both. Not cool. So I had to rely on my purse into which to stick business cards and other freebies. Second, TOO MANY PEOPLE! Third, fewer model kits and figurines. I don't know why but I really liked seeing that stuff the last time I was there and I deeply missed that aspect.

Overall, I can't honestly say I enjoyed it. My girlfriend was surprised when I told her I wanted to leave after a brief stay. We even handed our badges/tickets to some folks outside, for free. We felt we might as well help others get in and enjoy it since we were leaving.

I doubt I'll attend again unless I have a booth or table space for my own work. But I definitely want to attend the San Diego Con in the near future, just to have the experience.

If I end up showing at a con, I'll let you know!

Storyboard Pro 2 Tutorial #1—Establishing Shot

As promised, here is a tutorial by Sherm Cohen, storyboard artist extraordinaire for Ren & Stimpy, Hey Arnold and SpongeBob. If you go to his YouTube channel, you'll see how this is the first in a series of Storyboard Pro tutorials. I thought it would be fun to show how I'm using his tutorial topics in my own work, where applicable.

Here's the original establishing shot for my upcoming film. I've since changed this opening but the overall approach is similar:


Congratulations, Bill Plympton!

I've always admired Bill Plympton. He makes independent animated shorts and features that tell purely adult stories. And when I say adult, I don't mean smutty! I mean clever and insightful, like the adult-mind. No "family entertainment" from this guy!

That's why I jumped  at the chance to learn from him last year as a member of the first class (of only two, it seems) of the Bill Plympton Animation School. It was an invaluable experience and worth every penny AND every second.

Bill had mentioned during class that he was struggling to get his latest feature, "Idiots and Angels," released in the United States. So after two years, it's now playing in NYC. PLUS, it got a RAVE review in the New York Times.



So if you're in NYC, give this film a look.

DBD—Don't Be Discouraged!

My senior year in high school I was in advanced placement English. I liked it because it meant no exams and no stupid spelling tests. By the time I was seventeen, I resented having to have my spelling tested, that it was beneath me. Says a lot about how I thought (and I'm still a damn good speller)!

Anyway, the way it worked was that we would learn something about writing, then have to write an essay in class showing what we've learned. If one got a, say, B+ or higher on the essay, you could move on to the next "level."

When people didn't move on to the next level, the teacher (himself a talented illustrator) would tell us, "DBD. Don't be discouraged."

Unfortunately, I didn't heed this advice as carefully as I should have. I started—and stopped—numerous activities throughout my life because I became discouraged. Now, at age 41, I've learned not to get discouraged. I can say for the first time in my drawing life, I don't toss aside the bad drawings and not draw for long periods like I used to. Now I suffer through it until I get it right.

I can honestly say that the pain is worth it. After the suffering, I can actually see the improvement between drawings one and 100. And it's those flickers of improvement that keep me going.

So my advice to you when you hit a wall with your creation…DBD!!

Check It Out—Man vs. Art Podcast

The Man vs. Art website and podcasts are by Raul Aguirre, Jr., cartoonist and animator. I just today started listening to his podcasts and found myself chuckling. Although it's possible that he has a tendency to digress, he still makes valid points.

The podcast I heard today (from 8/21/09) was a hilarious tirade with which I totally agreed. Aguirre had the same complaint that Amid Amidi had at cartoonbrew.com: that the work of artists is NOT VALUED! Cheap asses on Craigslist post jobs that offer ZERO money but instead offer lame crap like "killer portfolio pieces" and "profit-sharing, once the property is sold." Yeah, right, ONCE it's sold! So an artist busts their butt to do several seconds or minutes of animation (people don't realize how long it takes to do one SECOND of good animation!) and gets in return…ZERO! And as Aguirre said, when artists accept these jobs, it devalues the work of all of us. Turning down these insulting offers will not only help the individual in the long-term (the time they spend creating a project for nothing, they could be creating their own project for something!) but will also benefit the industry as a whole, too.

I learned about devaluing of artistic work the hard way. I used to do design favors for colleagues at a company where I once worked. In return I got tickets to their shows and, as a chocolate fan, a Hershey bar. But once I stopped working for that company, I requested that I be paid for my work. The response I got from one individual involved something about how "we'd all like to get paid" and "we sacrifice to be in this profession" (in her case, theater.) I responded, "Yep, I'd like to get paid for all of the work that I do and I, for one, did NOT choose the theater life so, yeah, pay me."

Never heard from her again. Bwahahahahaha! Couldn't. Care. Less.

I no longer do ANY design work for free. The only exception I'll make is for a good friend or family member whose request is QUICK. And when I say quick, I mean 30 MINUTES. Seriously, if I can't do your design in 30 minutes, I don't do it for free. Period. I recently declined doing work for a family reunion because I knew it would take more than 30 minutes. Once we pass that mark, we're into time that I could be putting towards my own projects that could eventually EARN ME SOMETHING!

Just because creating is fun, does NOT mean it's easy and does NOT mean it's worthless. Aguirre said that Hollywood wants creators to think that their work is crap when in fact it's GOLD. They know it's gold and don't want the creator to know it's gold because then they'll have to pay the creator accordingly.  So if you believe you've got gold, go with it!

I believe the devaluing of graphic design began stock photography. Once you could easily pick up an image via the web and not hire a photographer, that was the beginning of the end of valuing photography. Then came stock illustration which decimated the illustration industry. But once I saw stock layouts, I knew I had to get out of this profession. Now companies will give their receptionist a computer, a layout program, a stock photo, illustration and layout and let her "design" a layout. Talk about devaluing!

My goal: to never again talk negatively about my work. I am supremely confident in my storytelling skills. Yes, I'm not the greatest draftsman ever, but neither is the guy who created "Family Guy." And he's doing just fine!

Luthor Studies

Since I have this nice software, I want to use it to fully realize my vision. One thing that I want to do more is camera moves. I think camera moves add to immersing one into an animated film. Live-action camera moves were used in "The Incredibles" to excellent effect.

So after my opening pan, I want the camera to travel through a window to introduce the viewer to Luthor. He'll be sitting in bed, a sheet covering him appropriately (despite the title and subject matter, this is a PG movie, folks!), puffing on a joint. But I need to get the angle right so I've done a bunch of studies of his body and mouth, on paper, before adding it to the animatic. Here are the studies:






OK, I know, these kind of look like wacky scribbles! BUT with each drawing, I was figuring out just how I want Luthor to look. The last drawing is pretty close to what the final will look like. 

I'd much rather take the time now to figure this out so I'll know if it's working story-wise or not.

This is all a process that I'm thoroughly enjoying!

Watercolor Tests

Here are some early attempts:

Materials used:
Canson Student Light Weight Watercolor Paper 80lb. Cold Press
Dr. Ph. Martin's Synchromatic Transparent Watercolor (Sepia, Black, Burnt Sienna and Coffee Brown)
Winsor & Newton Series7 #3 brush (sable)
Winso & Newton Sceptre 101 #8

I followed the example of the painter James Gurney and outlined the face in Burnt Sienna. Then I applied the method of Alex Ross and established the values (the lights and darks) with black (on the left.) I also tried it with sepia (on the right) to see if there was a difference in muddiness.

I purchased two different brands of 140lb cold press paper which I'll try in the future to see if there's a difference there, too. 

I think the key to painting is to follow more experienced painters' suggestions and apply them to one's own experiments.

More experiments coming!

The Wonderful World of Watercolors

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only animator who's neglected understanding color and painting (see here.) Like Mark Kennedy, I've always focused so much attention on drawing and its associate skills that I never thought too much about color and painting.

But now I'm taking the plunge.

Why? First, Schedule 6 in the Nicolaides book has an exercise that involves watercolor washes. Second, I keep looking at the pile of coloring art materials in my supplies bin that I'm NOT using—Dr. Ph. Martin's watercolor dye paints, miscellaneous other watercolors, acrylic paints, Cray Pas, crayons, markers and colored pencils—and longing to put them to use (assuming they're not all dried up!) Third, I read somewhere that if one can become adept with watercolors, using other paint mediums is easier. I'm sold!

So I did one of my favorite activities: I went art supplies shopping! It was wonderful except for being rushed (had to fit it into my lunch hour) and I chose a bad time—back-to-school week—so there were long lines both days at the store.

But aside from those minor issues, I happily bought some paints, a mixing palette and some paper. I had already invested in a Winsor & Newton Series 7 #3 brush (because Alex Ross uses it, of course) and combined with the other brushes and paints I already have, I'm ready to go!

And I'll be sharing the results of my paint lessons despite the quality. I mean, I can't expect to paint like James Gurney or Alex Ross my first time out, right?!

Luthor Skulls & Expressions

Since I'm learning as I make this film, I wanted to take the time to fully understand the construction of my characters.

The first step is to understand the skeleton underneath the flesh. Since I'm distorting the standard human head, it's necessary to understand how the skull works since that's what influences the flesh.

And I couldn't wait to start playing with his face so I did some expressions:





More faces to come!

Nicolaides—Schedule 5 complete


Well, this took an embarrassing ELEVEN WEEKS to complete (from Mon. June 21 to Mon. Sept. 6) but I DID finish it!

I said I was going to complete the Nicolaides curriculum to see if it has any benefit and I'm determined to do that.

On to Schedule 6!